PARIS — The European Union’s highest court on Wednesday endorsed a plan to begin charging the world’s biggest airlines for their greenhouse gas emissions from Jan. 1, setting the stage for a potentially costly trade war with the United States, China and other countries.

A group of United States airlines had argued that forcing them to participate in the bloc’s potentially costly emissions-trading program infringed on national sovereignty and conflicted with existing international aviation treaties.

But in its ruling, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg affirmed an opinion issued in October by its advocate general, who had rejected their claim.

The court’s decision comes amid increasing pressure from some of the biggest trading partners of the 27-member bloc to suspend or amend application of the legislation to expressly exclude non-E.U. countries — at least initially. Failing that, several governments have vowed to take their own legal action or retaliate with countervailing trade measures.

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source article: nytimes.com
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U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday as domestic home building jumped to the highest level in nearly two years and another successful Spanish debt auction buoyed investor sentiment.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 257 points, or 2%, to 12024, in morning trade. The blue-chip Dow dropped 100 points on Monday to close at the lowest level of the month.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index climbed 26 points, or 2.1%, to 1231. All 10 of the S&P 500's sectors rose, led higher by energy, material and industrial stocks. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 57 points, or 2.2%, to 2580.

Trading volume is light ahead of the holidays as many investors are closing their books for the year.
"Sentiment has been awful and volumes are thin," said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust. "Any good news can push stocks up pretty quickly in this kind of environment."

Still, the S&P 500 has opened higher in each of the previous six trading sessions. But the early gains have melted each time, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

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source article: wsj.com
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Stocks rose on Tuesday in Europe and on Wall Street as a drop in Spain’s borrowing costs and unexpectedly positive data from Germany eased euro zone debt worries.

Short-term financing costs for struggling Spain more than halved as banks lapped up debt at an auction, with much of the purchasing power said to have come from cut-rate loans from the European Central Bank.

On the economic front, data showed United States housing starts surged in November and permits for future construction were the highest since March 2010 as demand for rental apartments rose.

In early trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 232.31 points, or 2 percent, to 11,998.57. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was up 2.1 percent and the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.2 percent.

Headlines and fluctuating bond prices out of the euro zone continued to cause high volatility. The market will be prone to large swings this week on expected low volume due to the upcoming Christmas holiday.

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source article: nytimes.com
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